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| The Hmong and the CIA On Tuesday, more than 4000 ethnic Hmong were forcibly returned to Laos. It is the latest in a decades-long struggle between the minority group, their government and the United States feedproxy.google.com |
Kan to Be Japan's Finance Chief Japan's deputy prime minister was tapped to become the country's next finance minister, succeeding Hirohisa Fujii, who had asked to resign because of health problems. online.wsj.com |
U.K. Retailers Show Optimism British retailers recorded their strongest December sales rise in four years last month, while house prices continued to recover, strengthening hopes that the country emerged from a recession. online.wsj.com |
Squatters ordered to quit 17th-century Paris mansion Black Thursday group, which took over lavish property to draw attention to housing shortage, told they have one week to leaveFor two and a half months they have been the illicit residents of one of Paris's most desirable properties, a 17th-century mansion where Madame de Sévigné was born and Isadora Duncan lived with her lover.But today the squatters of housing association Jeudi Noir (Black Thursday) were told their time in the Place des Vosges was finally up. A court ordered them to vacate the premises within a week – or face forcible expulsion by the police.The ruling, which was described by the activists as "very harsh", brought to an end a 10-week occupation designed to draw attention to the city's chronic housing problems.The Jeudi Noir group, which included students, journalists and architects, wanted to show that, while rents are sky-high and social housing is hugely over-subscribed, Paris is awash with vacant properties.They claim the hôtel particulier in the chic Marais district had lain empty for decades before they took it over at the end of October. However, lawyers acting as legal guardians of the owner, the 87-year-old banking heiress Béatrice ÂCottin, insist the property is their client's chief residence.They had requested €140,000 (£123,000) in damages from Jeudi Noir, a sum that would have crippled the association. But, perhaps swayed by support for the movement from Paris's Socialist and Green party authorities, the court chose a path of relative leniency and ordered the group to pay compensation of €3,400 for every month of the occupation.Today Jeudi Noir hung a banner from the windows of its adopted home reading "no reaction". A spokesman for the group, Julien Bavou, said the verdict meant the students in the squat would have to leave "immediately and in midwinter". "It's a very harsh verdict, designed to intimidate us," he added.With its wooden beams and painted ceilings, the lavish home made for an unlikely squat. Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, better known as Madame de Sévigné, is believed to have been born there in 1626, and an array of luminaries, including Victor Hugo and the current International Monetary Fund chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, have lived nearby.According to figures collected by the authorities in 2006, 18,600 properties in the city have been empty for more than two years.FranceLizzy Daviesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Haiti Relief: U.S. Army Leader Keeps Aid Effort in Order Though some critics have complained that aid has been too slow to get to Haiti, there is no question that it would have taken a lot longer if Lieut. General Ken Keen hadn't just happened to have been there when the quake hit feedproxy.google.com |